Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2009
Location: King County
Vacant for years, the house fell into disrepair and was subject to vandalism. In addition, the property was for sale. Adjacent to an institutional medical center, existing zoning allowed for a much more intensive level of development than the existing single-family house, which made it more likely for a new owner to demolish the historic house.
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2010
Location: King County
Constructed in 1962 for West Coast Airlines, the hangar was designed by John Morse of Bassetti & Morse, a prominent architecture firm in the Pacific Northwest during the mid-twentieth century. The structure also represents the work of Skilling, Helle, Christiansen and Robertson, an engineering firm whose principal, Jack Christiansen, is best known for his work on thinshell concrete structures and was considered a world leader in their design. Demolition is planned by the current tenant who leases the property from King County and uses it to service and outfit small jets and planes catering primarily to corporate clients. Re-development plans for the site include construction of seven new hangars.
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2010
Location: Bainbridge Island, Kitsap County
Constructed in 1918 for the Moran School for Boys, the building originally housed an auditorium/theater, classrooms, science labs, a library and dormitories. After the school closed in 1933, the property re-opened five years later as the Puget Sound Naval Academy, a military prep school that operated until 1951. Although the other remaining school building was converted for use as a nursing home, this structure has stood empty save for a brief transformation into a movie set in 2000. Citing the high costs of rehabilitation and the lack of a viable use for the structure, the owner of the historic school offered it for sale, but the building was ultimately demolished in October of 2017.
“Bainbridge’s Moran School Has Rich History, but Does It Have a Future?“- Kitsap Sun, Feb. 18, 2015
“Historic Moran School demolished on Bainbridge Island” – Kitsap Sun, Oct. 20, 2017
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2013
Location: Whatcom County
The Digester Building is one of only four brick structures remaining at the former Georgia-Pacific pulp mill along Bellingham’s waterfront. Georgia-Pacific ceased all mill operations last decade, leaving the Digester Building as the most recognizable of the remaining historic industrial structures paying tribute to the original Puget Sound Pulp & Timber Company. The Port of Bellingham recently acquired the former mill site, and a 2008 Port-commissioned study resulted in a determination that ten of the historic mill buildings on site were eligible as a National Register historic district. Yet, the same study concluded most of the structures were incompatible with the new vision and questioned the economic feasibility of integrating the former mill buildings within the proposed mixed use waterfront redevelopment.
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2014
Location: King County
Built during the Depression of the 1930s from a Sears & Roebuck barn catalogue and featuring a popular gothic style roof, the Thayer Barn is one of the few remaining dairy barns in the area and serves as a reference point for the community’s agricultural heritage. Yet, the barn has not been actively used for years, and sits dilapidated along the roadside. A decade ago, notice went out that the property would be sold for redevelopment and local advocates raised a sizeable portion of funds needed to rehabilitate the barn into a community arts center. The deal fell through, leaving the barn to sit untended. Earlier this year, the property did indeed sell and plans for a housing development are moving forward. Thankfully, the project sponsors have shown a willingness to incorporate the barn into the new development, provided advocates can come up with the needed funds. Presently, the Duvall Foundation for the Arts is working in partnership with the City of Duvall and the developers on plans for rehabilitation. In the short-term, advocates have been granted a temporary easement to shore up the barn. Long term plans call for the barn to be relocated on site. And a thank-you goes out to the Thayer Barn Project, a group of area residents responsible for nominating the barn to the Most Endangered List.
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2014
Location: Sprague, Lincoln County
Originally called Hoodooville, the town of Sprague began as a sheep camp in the 1870s. Officially incorporated in 1883, the town changed its name to Sprague, in honor of Civil War Union General John Wilson Sprague, an executive with Northern Pacific Railroad which had a presence in town. In 1895, a fire virtually erased downtown, prompting the construction of modern fireproof masonry buildings following the blaze. Yet, even fireproof buildings need upkeep, and decades of deferred maintenance have taken a toll. On September 6, 2013, the easternmost building on the main block of downtown collapsed, forcing city officials to close down the street and condemn the entire block of adjacent structures.
Via the Most Endangered list, the Washington Trust was invited to assist. The 2014 Most Endangered listing raised awareness and spurred assistance in the form of a consultant donating time to assess the viability of rehabilitating an historic hotel building. The amount of money needed to bring the building back was, however, staggering. Local recognition that rehabilitation of the remaining buildings offered significant economic opportunity remained high. However, no large investment was secured and the hotel was unfortunately demolished, leaving just a few remaining historic buildings downtown.
Read more from our “40 for 40” featured story from the Washington Trust’s 40th anniversary in 2016.
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2015, 2008
Location: King County
Following World War II, nuclear engineering programs proliferated at universities across the country, including the University of Washington (UW). Retaining a competitive Nuclear Engineering program, however, required construction of a research reactor. Designed in 1961 by The Architect Artist Group, known as “TAAG”, the Nuclear Reactor Building was a unique collaboration between the architectural and the engineering departments of UW.
Efforts to save the building from demolition in 2008 culminated in the nomination of the building to the Washington Heritage Register that same year and the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Though younger than the minimum of 50 years that is generally required for listing, the Nuclear Reactor Building (constructed in 1961) was placed on the National Register of Historic Places because it demonstrated exceptional importance with its association with significant historic events, embodying the characteristics of the Modern Movement and representing the work of prominent Northwest architects. The building was also placed on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2008 Most Endangered Historic Properties List. The earlier advocacy efforts involved the Friends of the Nuclear Reactor Building (consisting mainly of University of Washington students), Docomomo WEWA, Historic Seattle, and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
In the Fall of 2014, the University unveiled plans to construct a new Computer Science and Engineering II Building on the site, which would require demolition of the Nuclear Reactor Building. Because of the building’s significance and the seriousness of the threat, the Nuclear Reactor Building was re-listed on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of 2015 Most Endangered Places. In late 2015, Docomomo WEWA submitted a landmark nomination to the City of Seattle. The University of Washington, claiming it was not subject to they City’s Landmark Preservation Ordinance because it was a state agency, filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle and also named Docomomo WEWA in the suit. The Washington Trust and Historic Seattle also joined the lawsuit as intervenors.
Preservation advocates lost the first round of legal proceedings in King County Superior Court. On April 14, 2016, King County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Parisien issued an order granting the University of Washington its motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit against defendants City of Seattle and Docomomo WEWA, and intervenors Historic Seattle and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. Although advocates continued to try to slow the demolition process, UW moved forward and the Nuclear Reactor Building was demolished on July 19, 2016. Despite the loss of the building, the fight to protect other historic buildings on state-owned university campuses continued on.
The City of Seattle appealed the King County Superior Court decision and the case was elevated to the Washington State Supreme Court. The almost decade-long fight to protect historic resources at the University of Washington has culminated in a State Supreme Court ruling in favor of preservation advocates in the case—University of Washington vs. City of Seattle, Docomomo WEWA, Historic Seattle, and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. On July 20, 2017 the State Supreme Court of Washington issued its opinion—a precedent-setting unanimous decision—holding that the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance applies to property owned by the University of Washington. The Court ruled that the University of Washington is a state agency that must comply with local development regulations adopted pursuant to the Growth Management Act.
The Supreme Court win won’t bring back the Nuclear Reactor Building (may it rest in peace), but it can help save other properties owned by UW in the future and may serve as an important precedent for future cases regarding historic properties across the state. Universities not only manage their campuses, but they also own properties in downtowns areas in the hearts of Washington communities small and large.
Even though the building has been lost, we are honored to accept, along with our advocacy partners Docomomo WEWA and Historic Seattle, a Docomomo US Modernism Award of Excellence in Advocacy.
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2016
Location: King County
The Providence Heights College and Provincialate was founded in 1961 as a response to the Sister Formation Conference. Started in the 1950s, the Conference initiated an inter-congregational effort to promote college education for sisters, enhancing the professional lives of religious women. Providence Heights College was one of only two institutions in the nation established at that time specifically for this purpose. The National Register-eligible campus represents the volatile time period in the Catholic Church when a crisis ensued over a new theology of authority and obedience among American sisters that collided with older, more traditional theological interpretations.
Completed in 1961, the Providence Heights College campus was designed by John Maloney, a prominent regional architect. Purposefully situated within a secluded wooded area on the Sammamish Plateau, its buildings total roughly 210,000 square feet and include classrooms, administrative offices, dormitories, an auditorium, a cafeteria, a library, a pool, a gym, and a chapel. The chapel is a remarkable modernist interpretation of Gothic design elements with fourteen steeply pitched gabled clerestory windows created by Gabriel Loire, a world-renowned stained glass artist.
The integration of religious education with secular student populations coupled with declining numbers of women entering the religious community led to Providence Heights College closing in 1969. The Sisters sold the property in the late 1970s to the Lutheran Bible Institute, later known as Trinity Lutheran College. The subsequent owner, City Church, purchased the complex in 2004 and initiated plans to build 140+ single family homes. The developer’s plan originally sparked the property’s nomination to the Most Endangered List, but the Issaquah School Board then voted unanimously to use eminent domain to acquire the site for a new high school and a new elementary school. Because the school district did not plan to reuse the buildings, the eminent domain process was put on hold while the owner pursued demolition.
A wide network of supporters were eager to preserve this significant piece of the area’s history and reuse the buildings in their original configuration. The Sammamish Heritage Society partnered with the Washington Trust to submit a landmark nomination, and while the campus was designated, the owner filed a lawsuit in opposition. Local advocates campaigned to save the campus and filed legal appeals against the owner’s application for a demolition permit. Sadly, in 2018 advocates lost the legal battle and the campus was demolished.
Read the Providence Heights landmark nomination, submitted by the Sammamish Heritage Society: text and photos.
Learn more: Providence Heights in the News.
Status: Lost
Year Listed: 2017
Location: Pierce County
The Scottish Rite was a rare and early example of poured concrete architecture in Tacoma that dated from 1922. Designed by the acclaimed Tacoma architecture firm Sutton, Whitney and Dugan, the building’s style defied easy categorization. It anchored a prominent corner lot across from Wright Park in Tacoma’s historic Stadium District and served as a fraternal hall, an events venue, and a church.
Unfortunately because churches are not subject to landmark laws in Washington State, the demolition of the Scottish Rite could not be prevented, and the building came down in October 2017. Through negotiations with the City of Tacoma Historic Preservation Officer, the church agreed to some mitigation steps, including DAHP level II documentation, salvage, onsite interpretive measures in the new building, and to help fund preservation planning efforts through Historic Tacoma. The new structure will also require design review by the Landmarks Commission per code.
The Scottish Rite represents a larger issue of concern witnessed in urban areas across the country. The congregation was unable to maintain the building and due to the high land value, a prospective developer tore it down in the name of increased density.
